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Sunday, August 16, 2015
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Kevin Morgan
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Logan Hill (MP 69)
Converse County, WY
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2041
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Orin (BNSF)
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Union Pacific, BNSF
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The line through the Powder River Basin was originally built by Burlington Northern between 1972 and 1979. By 1985, the single track line was handling 19 million tons of coal per year. Chicago Northwest and Union Pacific together bought 50% of the interest in the line. This resulted in both BN and CNW trains accessing the coal mines. In 1994, the single track was resulting in bottlenecks over the line and over the next three years, a second main was added to the entire line. By the year 2000, a third track was added to some of the line to accommodate continuing increases in coal demand. In 2005, the basin handled 325 million tons of coal. The line sees as many as 80 loaded coal trains (meaning 160 total trains) in a 24 hour period! In 2006, UP and BNSF invested another $100 million to add a fourth main track to 20 miles (over Logan Hill) of the line. The line is now has the capacity to support 400 million tons of coal annually! The fourth track project was completed in 2008. Here, an eastbound (geographically south) BNSF coal load climbing Logan hill on Main 4 meets a westbound (geographically north) UP coal empty descending down Main 2.
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Sunday, August 16, 2015
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Kevin Morgan
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Reno Jct
Campbell County, WY
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1469
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Orin (BNSF)
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BNSF
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The interlocking of Reno Junction is a long one. In fact, the distance between the eastern-most signals and the western-most signals is roughly 1.8 miles! Here, a coal load is pulling up the grade on Main 1 toward a clear signal at the east (geographically south) end of the Reno Junction interlocking. The tracks to the right of the train are Main 2 and Main 3, respectively. The track to the left is the Black Thunder Mine Lead.
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Sunday, August 16, 2015
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Kevin Morgan
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Reno Jct
Campbell County, WY
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1521
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Orin (BNSF)
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BNSF
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A lot of traffic runs through Reno Junction! In addition to the triple track mainline, two tracks branch off from the track to the east (geographically south) and one to the west (geographically north). These tracks all lead to the Black Thunder and Black Thunder East mine loadouts. This particular load is coming from Black Thunder East.
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Sunday, August 16, 2015
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Kevin Morgan
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Reno Jct
Campbell County, WY
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2052
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Orin (BNSF)
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BNSF
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An eastbound coal load is just departing the Black Thunder East mine. There are four Black Thunder mines in the Powder River Basin: Black Thunder West, Black Thunder, Black Thunder East, and South Black Thunder. The massive structure in the background is the loadout for Black Thunder West. In the distance, you can see a pair of trains waiting to load.
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Sunday, August 16, 2015
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Kevin Morgan
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MP 30
Campbell County, WY
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1423
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Orin (BNSF)
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BNSF
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An eastbound coal empty glides downhill on Main 1 near milepost 30. A single ES44AC brings up the rear. South of the northern-most mine and north of the southern-most mine, it is possible to see coal loads meeting each other and coal empties meeting each other as trains make their way to or from their respective mines.
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